If you’re in business, especially if you’ve been in business for more than a year, you’ve probably heard of or know something about a concept called search engine optimization, also known as SEO.
Simply, Google, for example is a search engine, so when someone performs a search query, a search engine optimization expert then knows how to optimize your website for Google’s robots that go out, search all the websites to read and discover what they are about, and who they are associated with, as in a “bad neighborhood” or “ good neighborhood”, and if they are in accordance with Google’s algorithmic rules, of what they feel is the best to the worst starting at number 1 page 1, all the way down hundreds of pages. Of course page 1 is where all the action’s at and who doesn’t want to be #1 right? Well that’s a job of an Expert SEO Consultant, a full-time job, one in which the consultant has know what is working currently with Google as their algorithms change constantly.
You already have a business to run, so I’m going to go over advantages of hiring an expert, what it can do for you, and how to choose the right consultant for you and your business to grow immensely through Google’s Search Result Pages, or SERP’s for short.
Why do I need to hire an expert for SEO?
You need to hire an expert to do your search engine optimization for your business because you’re ready have a business to run and this is a full-time job that takes constant learning constantly learning staying up in your network having Mastermind groups being part of those you know meeting weekly there’s a lot that goes involved testing making sure that you know exactly what Google is wanting right now because they’re always changing and a lot of the times they don’t tell you or they miss guide you so if you don’t know what you’re doing completely you could have a website on Google 1 day and the next day it’s gone because it was penalized by Google.
It Can Build A Good Reputation
If you are a new business or if you’re an existing one and now you’re getting on the Internet for the 1st time, or if you want to revamp it all, one great thing that happens with proper SEO is that it will create a reputation.
As your company receives reviews naturally by many sites such as Yelp, Facebook, Google+ etc, then the SEO is going to enhance them, so that when a potential customer Google’s your company’s name to do research because approx 80- 90% of people go online to check a company out before they actually decide to do business with them, so a good reputation goes a long way online, which can be created with SEO.
Your competitors are using SEO, so why aren’t you?
This is probably one of the biggest reasons to have SEO in your advertising budget, if you had no competitors then I guess that wouldn’t really matter but that’s not the case, everyone is on the internet, everyone is using Google, and everyone’s on their phone all the time, and it’s not just socially, they’re purchasing and buying items, sending gifts and they’re doing their holiday shopping, so where are you compared to your competitors online? Your competitors are putting money into their online presence and if you’re not keeping up with them, or not even thinking ahead, then you’re basically giving money your competitors and putting into their bank account.
A good way to stop that from is to hire an expert in search engine optimization, who will highlight your company on the biggest billboard in the world, Google, for your industry key money terms and services to ensure and give massive growth.
You gain Trust from Google and your potential clients
In this day and age since everyone is digital and online there are certain things that are expected by consumers and Google which makes a business “look” or “seem” like they’re “serious” or “real”.
Having a good website that is mobile-optimized and is easy to use that gives the user a great information but the consumer expects you to also have a website a Facebook or Twitter a social feed or social life of your business this is really important this gets consumers to trust you and get you involved it gets you out there and it really helps gain trust not only with Google but with consumers which leads to more conversions and more money for you.
Do your research before you sign up
Okay you’re convinced you already know you need SEO for your business that’s great but don’t just go out there and hire the first company or person you talk to, you really need to do your best to research to make sure they meet a few requirements, so here are a couple things to look for;
- Do they rank? Is their company ranking for their main product or service? If they’re not that’s a big red flag because if they cannot rank themselves, how are they going to ever rank your website.
- Do they have stellar reviews online?
- How is their online reputation and overall web presence?
- Do they have a strong Linkedin profile with many endorsements and recommendations from clients and peers alike?
- Will they actually be handling your campaign or are they Outsourcing the work out of the country? Who is really in control of your SEO campaign.
- Are they active in their Community or are they any in any Mastermind groups to stay abreast and constantly testing SEO tactics that work?
SEO will save you money
A lot of people just don’t know how to get to page one of Google or even to the top of page 1 so they go ahead and buy what’s called a pay-per-click ad or a PPC ad from Google.
What that is, is you pay Google a certain amount of money every time someone clicks on your ad, which then leads the potential customer to your website or landing page. Now imagine people can click on your ad on accident, or even a competitor can click away exhausting your ad budget, then what?
The good news is that the typical SEO campaign actually costs about ⅓ less than any Google pay-per-click campaign, so you still save money with an expert over paying Google to advertise for you.
When you have proper SEO done it’s a win-win situation
Hiring the right search engine optimization expert and having them implement a campaign properly with all the needed ingredients for long-term success within Google, is really a win win for a couple reasons.
When a campaign is created and started, your Business is going to start to be seen all over the Internet getting brand recognition, which is priceless, itself.
Another win win, going back earlier to reputation and developing one, but there is even more that can come from this, what if you already have a negative reputation for some reason, well a good, thorough, and full SEO campaign can help push those negative reviews out of the way.
Actually if you’re going to hire someone to do reputation management they have to be an expert at search engine optimization first because that’s really at the heart of it is knowing it, how to push those negative reviews out of the way and off of page 1, that comes from SEO knowledge, so all in all where brand recognition and reputation repair are concerned, that can be an added bonus as well.
SEO is really an investment into your company
This part I think is the most important for the business owner to realize and understand, that search engine optimization is an investment into your company’s future. It will give you the best exposure on the biggest Marketplace of the world, Which will bring you in a lot of extra income and revenue and a high return on your investment or ROI, but it takes time and there is a process before you start to see your returns.
That’s what most don’t seem to understand, there is no return right away, and that certain things have to happen before you are in a position to start earning your investment back, but once it starts, it should stay steady if not increase, as long as you are still paying monthly for the SEO service. We all know the old adage “it takes money to make money”, which is so true and anyone in business knows you need to advertise and you should have an advertising budget to market yourself properly to earn money back and that is what SEO is today, the advertising budget.
Lastly, it’s important for the business owner to understand that you won’t get a return on your investment the next day, it will be several months down the road, and will be worth it from that point on. The returns are great and should be consistent for the life of your Consultant’s contract.
